


You came back into my life (Unexpectedly but I wouldn't have it any other way)

by ScentedBooks



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Adopted Child, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bisexual Steve Harrington, Future Fic, Gay Billy Hargrove, I love fluff, Lesbian Robin Buckley, M/M, Minor Angst, Mostly Fluff, Past Steve Harrington/OFC, Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington Friendship, Short & Sweet, Single Father Billy Hargrove, Single Father Steve Harrington, Teacher Steve Harrington, slowly and then all at once
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-03
Updated: 2020-01-06
Packaged: 2021-02-27 07:28:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,256
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22103329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ScentedBooks/pseuds/ScentedBooks
Summary: Single father Steve Harrington and his daughter live in California with Robin.He teaches kindergarten and a young boy comes into his classroom and brings with him someone that Steve never thought he'd see again.He's not to upset about it.Edit: July 21st, 2020This fic has not been abandoned I promise. My attention span has recently left and my energy to continue the final portions of this fic haven’t come to my brain yet. I will finish it but it may be a little while.I hope you all understand ❤️
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Comments: 11
Kudos: 121





	1. A New Student

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! 
> 
> So this isn't going to be long at all, just something sweet that involves Steve with glasses, children, and the teacher trope I would die for.  
> And evolved Billy, who is sweating Steve hard 
> 
> I hope you enjoy  
> Comment and Kudos if you'd like :)

Sometimes Steve forgets at the best of times that he needs to wear his glasses to actually see the things around him more often than not.

As a kid it wasn’t something that his parents’ thought was important,

And in high school after he _finally_ realized he needed them,

He thought they were to nerdy and only wore them at home, which in retrospect wasn’t good for his eyes in any way,

But _now_ ,

As an adult, an _adult_ that _teaches_ children and needs his glasses to see their little facial expressions and needs them to go over their little assignments in class that help them recognize letters and shapes. Things that will help them _improve_ as they move onto the higher grades,

Steve doesn’t want to miss _any_ of that.

So, he stands in front of _twenty-four_ kindergarteners all staring at him with little excited wistful expressions, he realizes that none of them care about his glasses, or the way that they make the high school version of him feel _disgusted_ ,

They just want to learn,

And,

It’s the cutest thing Steve can imagine right at this moment.

As he goes around the room, he thinks about his kids back in Hawkins, who are now so _close_ to graduating and Dustin along with Will have made it abundantly clear that the day they get their cap and gown they’re getting on a flight and moving to California,

Which means that all the other little shits will follow.

And, he doesn’t even pretend that the thought of having everyone together again makes him _preen_ with the happiness that they _miss_ him, probably even miss Robin, who he rooms with because she’s teaching at the high school across town,

And,

He’s getting a new student today, and the boy will probably be walking into his classroom in the next 5 minutes or so and he hopes with everything that he has that he will be comfortable here, and not too shy to be meeting a bunch of new people.

In his experience children get along with one another better at a young age, than as they get older, because even though he has bad days, he can’t really compare when Robin comes home _fuming_ because some little shit mouthed off.

He’s walking around the room, getting everyone settled when there is a knock on his door, and the principal walks through with a little boy, who’s blonde curls are absolutely everywhere and his bright blue eyes take in the new space around him with _such excitement_ that Steve tries to contain his chuckle as every single one of his little students face whip around to look at him,

“Mr. Harrington.” His co-worker begins with a small smile with a huff, “I’m sorry to interrupt, but you’ve got a new student this morning. His name is Isaac.”

Steve stands to his full height and walks over to the little boy with a small welcoming smile before bending down a bit and saying hello, to which he gets an excited but clearly nervous reply, before he turns back to his class where all the eyes are still staring,

“Alright everyone!” he states cheerfully, “This is Isaac! Everyone say hello to him and give a warm welcome!”

“Hi Isaac!” they all reply in excited little voices at the prospect of having a new person in the room with them,

He reaches his hand out towards the little boy, “Why don’t we get you settled in yeah?”

The boy grabs his hand and they walk fully back into the room, and hang his backpack before sitting him at the empty desk Steve had prepared for the boy the day before,

“Steve?” the principal called out, “Can I talk to you really quick?”

Steve nods and follows him out of the hallway with a slight look towards the full classroom before giving them a _look_ that tells them to _behave_ ,

He shuts the door with a soft _click_ ,

“Isaac shouldn’t give you any trouble, but his father needed to leave, and I told him that he could officially meet you after school gets out for the day.”

He hands him the child’s folder for the records he keeps and its thin, which is normal for a child at this age,

And,

He goes back into his classroom, and _surprisingly_ no one is out of their seat, but everyone is talking, _talking_ about everything and nothing all at once. Excited at the prospect of being unattended for less than 2 minutes,

But he looks over and Isaac is engrossed in a conversation he's not entirely sure makes full sense, but the kid looks overall comfortable, so he starts class back up after some effort, and,

It’s a good day.

And after he has everyone lined up, backpacks to big for their bodies he realizes that he definitely has glitter in his hair, and a swipe of pink paint down the side of his khakis and smiles to himself, as they all walk behind him in the best line they manage at the prospect of going home,

“Everyone has their drawings, right?”

“Yes Mr. H!” the ones actually paying attention reply,

“Alright, everyone knows the drill, stick with me until we see who’s coming to get you okay?”

They all nod and fight the urge to take off running when the doors open and they all file outside the front door,

And,

 _Billy Hargrove_ is standing right there.

He hasn’t seen him in almost _7 years_. Since the day of Robins graduation, the day Billy _also_ graduated, and then Steve and Robin hightailed outta Hawkins the _first_ moment that they could, and ended up here in California, where he was currently standing in front of the guy he had the biggest crush on, who kicked his _ass_ not long after they'd met for the first time and called him _princess_ the last time they saw one another,

And,

“Daddy!”

He looked down where Isaac was currently yelling in Billy’s direction, and the look of surprise in his face when he made eye contact with Steve’s melted into some sort of _adoration_ ,

And,

Fuck.

Isaac was Billy’s,

Isaac _Hargrove_.

Steve really needed to learn how to pay attention more, but his attention from the look on Billy's face was grabbed by one of his students and their parent,

“See you tomorrow Mr. H!” they yelled, grabbing at his pant leg and he looked down at them and smiled,

“See you tomorrow Alyssa.”

The girl ran off to her mother who was waving at him from where she stood, as Isaac ran to Billy as Steve watched the other students get to their parents or in some cases guardians before it was just Billy standing there waiting, and listening to Isaac prattle on about what he assumed the way his day went.

He looks so _different_ now.

The sneer on his face is now replaced with fond amusement as he continues to wait for Steve, and his curls are cut _short_ on his head, the curls only dangle a bit from where it’s _shaved_ on the sides.

_Jesus Christ_

He wonders if Hargrove realizes that Steve’s going to freak out about this for the rest of the night.

“Hargrove.” Steve greets, trying his _hardest_ to not make his voice waver, “I didn’t know you were in California again, let alone here.”  
Billy did a lot of things while in Hawkins, but not once did he ever make the face, he was making right now, the smallest hint of a smile that made Steve want to _explode_.

He shrugs with that attractive little smile and stays, “Didn’t know you were teaching Harrington.”

“Best decision I ever made.” He gestures to Isaac trying to wilt his blush that’s surely there away, “He did really well today, wasn’t to shy, and I think he will do really well in class. There’s a paper in his backpack of things that we have done already, that he may need to practice a bit, but if he needs any help in class, you won’t have to worry. All my students do well in working together.”

He finishes with a flushed bright smile towards Billy’s amused expression, and then they say goodbye.

_God_

He looked _good_.

This year just got a whole lot better,

He couldn’t wait to tell Robin.

But first, he needed to pick up his _daughter_ from daycare.


	2. Stephanie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We hear more about Stephanie, Steve's daughter.   
> Steve runs into Billy at the grocery store.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you'd like to talk to me :)
> 
> @ScentedBooks   
> @StevieBaby
> 
> Both on Tumblr 
> 
> I hope you enjoy

When Steve found out he was getting full custody of his newborn daughter two weeks after he graduated college, he had a slight mental breakdown. 

This particular breakdown was mostly full of overflowing happiness at the prospect, then proceeded to turn into an actual panic attack at raising his _beautiful_ daughter completely by himself. 

When he thinks about it now, he should’ve known that this was always the way it was going to be. He respected Avery and thought she was a wonderful smart woman, which is why when they found out that they were having a child, while completely on accident, neither of them was to upset about it. 

But overall, he should’ve seen it coming. 

Steve is known for being unobservant when it comes to people, but he is getting pretty good at analyzing feelings, and people whether they are aware of it or not, tend to be open with how they feel. And Avery felt she just wasn’t ready to raise a child, and that aspect had nothing to do with Steve. 

She wasn’t ready, and he respected that. 

But,

It didn’t stop his absolute _breakdown_ when he received the full custody paperwork at the hospital. 

Which, now that he thinks about it is actually horrifyingly embarrassing, and he should’ve waited until he was at home to do so, but luckily Robin was there to convince him that she wasn’t going to go _anywhere_ and that he was going to be a great day. 

And, 

He thinks he’s doing a pretty great job. 

After his breakdown, he agreed to send Avery pictures every school picture she wanted, and even though she wasn’t going to be in their lives, they both agreed that if his daughter wanted to meet her one day, they’d both be okay with it. 

It was one of the most important adult conversations that he’d ever had in his life and was immensely grateful that she was such a good person. 

Who just wasn’t ready. 

Steve on the other hand, was overly prepared for his daughter, and thanks to his mother had everything he could even slightly think of needing for his little girl. Even though there was a large chance that his parents would likely never meet the girl, they did the exact same thing they did for Steve, which was filling the empty space with items that replaced them. 

So, even though he was upset with them, he’d come to terms with their lack of personal involvement in stride, and he and Robin brought his little girl home and now they are here today. 

At 6 months old, Stephanie was and always will be the best thing that’s ever happened to him. 

She has bright green eyes that match her mother’s but got the genes of a full head of Steve’s thick brown hair and the small moles that littered her skin were a direct mirror to what was all over his.

She is just _beautiful_. Steve may be slightly biased, but he doesn’t even _care_ because he finally gets to love another person with the intensity that he carries with him when it comes to love. A love for another person that is completely dependent on him, and surely sees him with as much importance as he does, 

Even though she still screams her head off at 2 in the morning from time to time. 

As he walks into the daycare his daughter stays at during the weekdays while he’s teaching, she lights up with a _recognition_ that he’s coming to take her home. 

Where she will _always_ be safe. 

\--  
\--  
\--

When everyone found out that Steve was going to be a dad, via _Skype_ because he wasn’t about to leave the state any time soon after hearing the news, everyone was excited for him, but to his utter horror they had thought the baby was _Robins_ , and they had both gotten a little green at that fact. 

After the situation was cleared up, there was a lot more questions from the party, and a few hard stares from Hopper, and some squealing from Joyce and after she’d stopped making those _noises_ , she’d called him back and threatened to fly out there and slap him if he wasn’t involved with that child’s life. 

Now when he talks to Joyce, those threats have turned into praise that simply make him stutter at the fact that she’s decided to move to California because, 

_I need to meet my grandbaby Steve, no arguments._

He’d cried over the video chat with her when that had happened. 

And, 

He talks to them all probably a little to much, and fills up his life with pictures of his favorite person in the entire world, he 100% certain that all of the photographs he’s sent them have found their way into Joyce’s collection, and he knows that Dustin carries one in his wallet with him _everywhere_. 

It’s sweet and he still cries when he thinks about it for to long that they all care about them _so much_. 

He loves them. 

\--  
\--  
\--

As his daughter had grown into the 6-month-old that she is now he thinks, things weren’t always easy. Sure, Robin and he had the money to support another person. Hell, he still and would probably always have access to his parent’s money, and then he’d gotten the job at the elementary school, 

Which doesn’t make him _that much_. 

But, 

When he’d first brought her home, he was awake all the time. His beautiful daughter was to happy to stay asleep, and not miss even a little bit of the new world that she was brand new too. 

Being a single father made him realize that things were going to be _hard_.

He thanks anyone who’s listening that he couldn’t have done it without Robin. 

Though he did most of the baby portion of things by himself, she helped whenever he looked like he was going to pass out and cleaned up after them both when he _finally_ got her to go to sleep. 

She’d washed bottles, and picked up towels from Steve’s uneven shower schedule, graded some of his little assignments he gave to his kindergarteners, and helped him do lesson plans over the ones she already was doing for her own students, 

“Surprisingly yours gets harder than mine, at least my students can read, most of the time.”

He’d laughed.

She smiled at him for the first time at 4 in the morning with her bright green eyes on him fully after she’d given him an impressive burp, and that was the day he realized that she looked _just_ like him. 

At the 3-month mark, she finally started to sleep through most nights, and the bags under Steve’s eyes were staring to lessen their prominent color of deep grey and he looked more like an actual person when he showed up to work when she hit 4 months old.

Then she started laughing and screaming about _everything_ and _nothing_ all at once. The new noises in his life was so adorable. It was easier to leave her to her own devices while he cooked or cleaned up after his class full of 5-year-olds, because she was able to make her presence known to him from an entire other room.

He started doing his hair again after that and got into the hang of getting the spit up stains out of his sweaters and polos after he fed her in the mornings, he should probably feed her in his pajamas. 

She’s still so curious about everything at 6 months old. She rolls over at any given chance she gets. She sits up mostly by herself, and _grabs_ things with such force that Steve pulls his hair back when he has her in his arms at all times now. 

She doesn’t want to miss _anything_ and needs to be sat up almost all the time now, and since his mother sent him so many things, he’s able to give her anything that will make her happy, and her happiness right now and watching the space around her, and the lights of the toys that she doesn’t really understand how to play with yet, but wont let him take them away because not hearing or seeing them would be a travesty. 

Recently she has started teething, not much but he feels so bad, and she _screams_ if something isn’t in her mouth now, but _god_ he wouldn’t change a thing. 

\--  
\--  
\--

He is walking through the grocery store with Stephanie strapped to the front of him in her carrier facing the world because she’d scream otherwise when he hears his name being called by an excited little voice at the other end of the cereal aisle. 

He turns to the sound and _Isaac Hargrove_ is running towards him at full force. He vaguely hears another voice calling the little boys name but he’s to worried about the kid knocking him over to really care about that at the moment. 

“Mr. H!” Isaac yells as he makes contact with his left leg, and Steve lets out a small laugh and a small ‘ooof’ and wraps his hand around his daughter’s torso to keep her from being jostled, because then she’ll cry at the inconvenience. 

She really is almost all him. 

Isaac has only been in his class for a couple of weeks now, but the kid has taken a shine to learn quickly and get along with the rest of the class, and Steve was happy about his easy transition. 

He and Billy have spoken a couple of times after school lets out, but usually it's just a wave goodbye, and then as they leave Steve stares at Billy’s ass when he walks to his car, 

No one has to know about that. 

There’s no animosity between them during these exchanges, and Steve’s sure some of that has to do with the fact that he’s leaving his child with Steve 5 days out of the week for almost 8 hours each time. Other than that, Steve’s not to worried about talking about their past anymore, he can’t bring himself to care about things that they will probably need to discuss to really move forward, but for now he can deal with just staring at him like a weirdo. 

“Isaac!” Billy’s voice filters through his brains as Stephanie lets out an excited screech when Steve brushes past her little toes to reach down and steady the curly headed child at his feet. 

Isaac doesn’t look like he even cares he just ran from wherever they were to get to Steve, and he yells, “Daddy look! I found Mr. H!”

Billy’s eyes are wide at the edge of the aisle before he starts walking towards the three of them, and directly speaks to Isaac, 

“You cannot just run away like that kid.” And scoops him from his place on the ground with practiced ease and brings his eyes back to Steves.

“But Mr. H is here!” the boy argues, and Steve stifles a laugh, finally removing his arm from Stephanie to let her dangle comfortably once more and thankfully she only makes a small noise in anger before choosing to take her attention back to shoving her fist in her mouth. 

“Your dad’s right Isaac.” Steve states getting the boys attention, and wide blue eyes stare back at him, and he gives him a small smile, “But.” He continues, putting his glasses up onto his nose, “I am very happy to see you.”

Isaac’s grin is wide and happy and Steve smiles, and brings himself to look back at the matching eyes of the kids’ father who’s looking at him with an expression that Steve can’t really identify, 

“Billy.” He greets finally, and tries not to stare to hard at the motion of Billy’s throat as he swallows before he replies, 

“Steve.” And gives Steve a small smile.

They stare at one another for a moment before he lets Isaac back down onto the floor and the boy exclaims, 

“Is that your baby Mr. H!!?” 

And Steve can’t help the grin that profoundly takes over his face, “Yes, this is Stephanie.”

“Hi Stephanie!” Isaac waves, and like she can actually respond yells back at him with her normal level of force that Steve chuckles. 

“She isn’t big enough to talk yet bud, still a baby.” Steve tells the boy. 

Isaac nods seriously at his words and Billy’s voice interrupts, 

“How old is she?” 

Steve looks back up at him and hears the slight strain, but awe look in his face as he stares at his daughter.

She’s adorable, and they all know it. 

“6 months.” Steve tells him happily, “getting bigger every day, Robin? Do you remember Robin?” Billy nods, “She keeps telling me that she’s getting to big to fast, and I can’t help but agree.” Pride bleeds into his voice, and he ignores the sadness that she really is getting bigger every day. 

“She’s adorable.” Billy says with a slightly sad expression that makes Steve scrunch his face. He attentively reaches out his hand and she grabs onto his finger with what Steve knows is a strong hold, 

“Isn’t she?” he starts, “Careful though, she may cut off circulation. She’s got a monster grip.” He gestures to his tied-up hair, “I would know.”

Billy laughs quietly, seemingly trying not to startle her, “That’s okay.”

Steve swears that he’s going to _melt_ in the middle of the cereal aisle at the soft look on Billy’s face directed completely at his daughter who’s probably on the verge of smacking Billy in the face if he gets any closer to her. 

If Steve’s crush had dwindled at any point, its back with complete full force right at this moment. He’s trying really hard not to just blurt out that he wants to go on a date with Billy, right here, in front of their children, for fuck’s sake, all because he’s continuing to grasp his daughters attention, making noises at her, which she gleefully screams back at him, 

“She looks just like you.” Billy tells him, “Her eyes might be green, but damn they are _huge_.”

Steve’s brain short circuits a bit. Because that could be taken as an _insult_ , but it didn’t sound like one, not in any way did it sound like an insult, not with the tone of voice Billy used. Steve blinks owlishly which makes Billy chuckle and murmur to himself, 

“Exactly the same.”

His phone rings before he gets to process that fully and he reaches to grab it quickly before his daughter gets offended at the sudden noise and he answers it,

“Hello?”

“Don’t forget to get cat food Dingus, your cat won’t shut the fuck up.” Robins voice filters through, and the way Billy’s face morphs into hilarity he knows that he’s heard her. 

“Jesus, I won’t forget Rob, I have a list.”

She hangs up without saying anything else and Steve must look super offended right now because Billy says, 

“Don’t look at your phone like that Stevie, you’ll get wrinkles.”

Steve gawks and Billy continues, “So Robin lives with you then?”

He nods in response, “She’s been the best help, Steph loves her. Made things a lot easier for me.”

Billy gets a weird look on his face, “You’re by yourself?”

Steve ignores the pang of loneliness in his gut, “Yep.” He states popping the p, “Avery, her mom wasn’t ready, and I was I guess, she’s all mine.” And gazes lovingly down at his daughter where she’s currently now trying to put Billy’s finger in her mouth. 

Billy’s face does a slew of emotions before it settles, and he shrugs, “I’ve only had full custody of Isaac for a couple of years, but I can relate to the feeling. After, Heather and her girlfriend passed away, I would’ve never said no.”

Steve remembers that, Robin had been devastated. Even though her and Heather had ended things right after they graduated, she still had a soft spot for the girl, and the news broke her heart. They'd gotten into a car crash a few months after Isaac turned three. He hadn't realized that Billy has taken custody of the now 5 year old. 

Steve shoots him a small sad smile, the feeling of his heart beating in his throat underneath his words, “Wouldn’t give it up for anything.”

“Yeah.” He sits his free hand onto the back of Isaac’s neck causing the boy to beam, “Me either.”


	3. Billy's Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We see Billy's side of what we've already seen,   
> Then we move forward

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I do hope that you are enjoying this :)
> 
> Contact me if you'd like:
> 
> @ScentedBooks  
> @Steviebaby
> 
> Both on Tumblr

Things seemed to change between them after that. 

They say hello more often and talk for a bit before Steve needs to go get Stephanie or Billy needs to get Isaac back home before it gets to dark outside for him to play. 

Billy thinks about the first time he saw Steve Harrington once again after _7 years_ of not seeing the now man that his heart must’ve stopped beating in his chest for at least 30 seconds when those gorgeous Bambi eyes looked at him in surprise, while he stood there will his son. 

Billy remembered the last time he saw Steve before him, and Robin disappeared from Hawkins just days after he’d finally graduated from that shit show of a high school. 

Heather had just told him that she was moving to Chicago with her newest girlfriend, and if Billy wanted a new place to go, a change of scenery that he could tag along with them if he wanted, 

So, he did,

But, 

He wishes he could go back and tell himself, to shake himself silly, to just tell Steve how he feels because it would be a whole 7 years before they saw one another again, and it only happened because Heather _died_. And, Billy, and especially Isaac needed a change of scenery after 3 years of staying in Chicago, so they moved to California, the same state that Steve had gone too but Billy didn’t know _where_ exactly he’d gone. All Billy knew was that California would be a positive change for them both. 

And Billy enrolled his adopted son, the same one that still called him _daddy_ , even though he’d only helped with the artificial insemination, and was never meant to be called that by the actual carbon copy of himself, but, 

He enrolled him in a new school, in their new town that was by the beach he missed so much, and unknowingly left his son with Steve _fucking_ Harrington. 

When he went to pick the kid up from school that day it was the last thing he ever expected, and when his eyes met with big honey brown ones, he knew that he was still gone for the man. The man who was wearing the dorkiest yellow sweater that looked sinful on him. And had _glasses_ on his pretty face, who looked just as surprised to see him as Isaac separated himself from where he was glued to Steve’s side and ran to him in excitement, 

And,

That’s how Billy found out who Mr. H was, like the last name _Harrington_ was so popular that it didn’t click that morning when he dropped Isaac off. 

As Isaac told him all about the immense fun, he had had that day with ‘Mr. H!’ and that he got to play with glitter and paint Billy a picture and made friends. Billy smiled at his son, and kept his attention on the man interacting with at least twenty other children the same age, and waving goodbye to their parents, 

And couldn’t help but look on in fond amusement at how well, he was doing with them. In the controlled chaos that was all of these children, Steve looked so comfortable and incredibly soft, it made Billy _want_. 

Made him _want_ bad.

When his last student ran to her mother, Steve’s eyes finally made their way back to Billy’s, and he thought he was going to have a heart attack right there, because he was walking towards him, because he was supposed to meet with his sons new teacher, 

Which apparently was Steve Harrington, the man who Billy had the biggest closeted angry crush on back in high school. Who decided that fighting his feelings, and beating that beautiful face in was better than just telling him _how he felt_ because he was scared of what he father thought, and now, _now_ he knows that it was inexcusable, and the last time that he’d saw Steve he’d given him a simple, 

“Sorry, _Princess_.”

He’d looked fantastic. 

As Steve finally got to Billy, and his full focus was on him and his son, all Billy could think about was the moles and freckles that still went down his skin and into the underneath of his sweater, and his hair is still huge, but its pulled away from his face to keep it off of his shoulders, which gave Billy the access to look at the entirety of his throat, and 

Billy wanted to touch. 

He wanted to bring noises out of him, and whines when he left marks all over his throat and down his collar bones. He felt like a teenager again in that moment. 

“Hargrove.” Steve’s voice had filtered those thoughts into his head full force, because Steve’s cheeks were pink, and the soft redness was flowing down his neck as the blood was coming to the surface, “I didn’t know you were in California again, let alone here.”

And Billy couldn’t tell the small smile that graced his face, because Steve’s voice was soft, and had no resentment in them, he merely sounded curious, and Billy had forgotten how much he loved his voice. 

“Didn’t know you were teaching Harrington.”

And that was a goddamn lie. 

Of course, he knew Steve was teaching, Max had fucking told him that, because she was friends with him on Facebook and of course all the other little shits were still on contact with Steve. He was like their extra parent, followed him around like little ducklings. 

And he spoke highly of Isaac and Billy had to try and not puff his chest out because Isaac was an outgoing kid and made friends fairly well. Hearing Steve talk about his son, who he’d just met this morning with such positivity was making him _proud_. 

Steve’s flush continued as they said goodbye, 

“See you later Harrington.”

He’d make good on that promise. 

\--  
\--  
\--

He really should’ve saw it coming that he was eventually going to see Steve outside of just picking up Isaac from school. Even though that was genuinely the highlight of his sad pining filled days, of watching Steve look delicious, 

The grocery store was the last place he expected it. 

With Isaac in tow he’d went and planned to get their surplus of groceries for the week because Isaac was growing rapidly and was eating everything, and Billy ate a lot anyways, so shopping was a necessity at least once a week. 

So, when his son took off from his side overly excited and shouting ‘Mr. H!’ at the top of his lungs he felt an unwarranted nervousness and excitement about seeing him outside of the comfort zone he’d inserted Steve into. 

When he rounded into the aisle that his son went down, he found his child clinging to Steve’s leg as he balanced himself, likely to keep from falling over. Cradling a baby in his arms. 

And his stomach bottomed out, suddenly he felt the need to throw up, because the child in his arms looked _exactly_ like him. Giant brown hair, expression of sunshine all over her face. Letting out an excited scream at being moved around. 

There was no doubt that this was Steve’s baby.

He prioritized his son and scolded him for running off while Steve laughed softly at his son’s excitement simply because he saw him in public. 

Hearing Steve laugh made his brain filter to only that for a moment as those brown eyes looked at him, 

“Billy.” 

And Steve had decided that they were on a first name basis apparently because Billy wasn’t exactly prepared to hear his first name come out of that pretty mouth. He was in the cereal aisle at the grocery store for god sakes. He just couldn’t help himself as he watched those lips form his name for the first time in years as he replied, 

“Steve.”

While he was having a challenge to continue the conversation his son had no issues when he’d asked, 

“Is that your baby Mr. H?”

He watched as the happiest smile he’d ever seen take over Steve’s face, and he decided that he wants to keep that expression there forever, and felt a pang of jealously for whoever got to see him smile like that, for the mere mention of the baby in his arms, 

“Yes, this is Stephanie.”

_Stephanie_

Of course, he would. 

Steve and Stephanie Harrington. 

It made the old Billy want to say something nasty, but he couldn’t bring himself to take that smile away as he spoke to his son in a way that made Billy’s heart beat a bit faster and his chest feel tight, as the jealousy continued to unfurl through his belly. 

He couldn’t take his eyes away from the little girl, as she made the cutest noises at Isaac’s excitement as he spoke to her. He had reached his hand out, and she didn’t even hesitate to grab on to his finger with her whole fist, and it made Billy sad that he wasn’t apart of this life that Steve had created. 

It was no one’s fault but his own. 

All he could say was, 

“She’s adorable.”

She looked so much like him. Even though she had green eyes, that were beautiful, and most likely a trait she had gotten from her mother, the size of them and the shape were all Steve. They were huge, and he’d told him as much, 

Got to watch in satisfaction as the blush went down his neck again. 

“Exactly the same.”

He listened as Steve spoke on the phone to Robin, before that foolish hope entered his chest when Steve told him, 

“Avery, her mom wasn’t ready, and I was I guess, she’s all mine.”

Many different emotions flood through his veins, he’s doing this all by himself. He lives with Robin, not Avery, the child’s mother. These thoughts round in his brain as Steve continues to stare at him, looking straight into his eyes conveying simple words that he doesn’t have to say out loud. 

I’m not with anyone right now

And neither are you. 

\--  
\--  
\--

When Billy received full custody of Isaac, the boy was two years old. 

He’d only seen the boy every so often and was being referred to as Uncle Billy, something that he was comfortable with during the time that the boy was in both of his mother’s custody. 

After he found out the news of Heather and Rachel's accident, he was worried about Isaac’s safety and allowed himself to cry as he cradled the small boy a couple of days later for the loss of his friends and his now son’s family. 

He wasn’t prepared for the difficulty that came with raising a child but was willing to do anything that made the boy happy in his new home and tried to make him comfortable. 

The first time that Isaac called him daddy, he dropped a plate on the floor in surprise. 

Overtime, and after they grieved together, Billy decided that they needed to move back home and took Isaac to California so the boy would be able to get a fresh start that didn’t linger the death of his parents over his head everywhere he went. 

The boy didn’t really understand the idea of death and the grieving process, but now understood that his mothers weren’t coming back home. 

Billy was right to assume that the move to California would be beneficial for the both of them. They spent the days that Billy was off work at the beach and playing in the yard of the home Billy bought them both. 

For the first time since he’d left Hawkins, California felt like he was home, in place where he belonged. A place where he felt safe and didn’t need to worry about the idea of his father ruining his life anymore. 

\--  
\--  
\--

Billy accidentally asks Steve out on a date three weeks later. 

Specifically, he asks Steve to come over to their home for dinner. 

He doesn’t even realize what he had exactly said until Steve is looking at him with a silly gleeful expression and then proceeds to give him his phone number after taking the phone Billy had held out for him and typing it in himself, then leans over in front of the school on a Friday in front of anyone who is left without a care in the world and kisses Billy on the cheek, slides the phone back into his hand, tells Isaac to have a fun weekend and walks away.   
Fuck. 

This is the best and worst thing that ever happened to him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment and kudos if you'd like

**Author's Note:**

> I think this is going to be about 4-5 Chapters overall. 
> 
> Find me:  
> @ScentedBooks  
> @babystevie
> 
> -Both on Tumblr, the second one is where all of my Harringrove is posted but yo may contact me on either one.


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